There is definitely no stopping Charlton Debono, the Gozitan athlete who has taken the local scene by storm. Once again he showed his prowess to win the House of Sport 10k Valletta Series held last weekend.
Debono, took the lead from the very start but had to contend with a determined Dillon Cassar who was hot on his heels, determined to keep to the chase. The duo kept this pace until the first loop of the two 5 kilometre loops. As they reached Castille, Debono put in his experience to effect and started to widen the gap over Cassar to win the race in a time of 32 minutes 25 seconds, an improvement of over a minute from the previous year. Cassar crossed the finish line 58 seconds after Debono. Nevertheless Cassar, who has only been running competitively for the past year, can be proud of a time which is nearly five minutes faster than last year. In third place was Matthew Scicluna who clocked a time of 34 minutes 42 seconds.
At the start of the race Josann Attard Pulis was determined to clock a 38 minute finish time and succeeded in doing so. This was an improvement of nearly two minutes from last year. Attard Pulis’ pace gave her a comfortable finish over second placed Marica Micallef who clocked a time of 42 minutes 51 seconds. This was Micallef’s first participation in this race. Third placed was Jolene Debattista who registered a time of 44 minutes 51 seconds. Debattista is a regular on the House of Sport 10k series circuit and this year also registered an improvement on her time.
“If the difficulty level of the Valletta route can be considered as hard due to the tough hills that dot the route, the breathtaking scenery that our capital citiy offers certainly makes up for the challenge this route offers. Each year this race is a sell out! “ commented Charles Demanuele, Race Director.
The next edition of the House of Sport 10k Series will take place in the Three Cities on Sunday 13th January.